cherry stock

[2 shots]

Hi all, first time working with cherry and was wondering how dark it will get on its own over time ??  Should i do the lye wash?

[okawbow]

To me, cherry just doesn’t look right unless it is stained dark. Here’s a cherry stock I recently finished. Treated with a weak solution of ferric nitrate and heat blushed. Shellac base and traditional oil varnish.

[flembo]

I just finished a cherry woods runner using oven cleaner as suggested by someone on this sight. I really like the color.

[2 shots]

 thanks guys, Flembo yours is more the color im after, would you care to share your finishing process? thanks. mike

[Spalding]

Recently finished. Just four applications of Tried and True. No stain or other treatments.
It’ll darken up nicely in a couple years.
Bob

[AZshot]

To answer your question, from my experience cherry will not continually darken.  It may get dark for a few months or a year or two.  But then that's all.  Or if it continues to darken, it's at a very slow rate, like generations.

How do I know?  I have a 30 year old cherry shooting box I made back then. Over the decades I have it at the range dozens of times a year, often every weekend.  It's been in the sun a lot more than most people's rifles.  And it still looks the same shade as it did 25 years ago.  I used Formby's Tung Oil back then when I made it.

[Nbogan]

The first picture is right after i finished the rifle in 2020. It has 6 or 7 coats of Tried and True Varnished Oil. I didn't do any stain or treatment. The second picture is from this past winter. It darken up really nicely i think.

[2 shots]

  thanks guys, lots of nice guns there.

[reddogge]

Nbogan, the first shot appears to be in full sunlight and the later shot appears to be shadowed. Do you have a picture of the rifle today in full sunlight like the first shot?

[flembo]

Hey 2 shots, like I said someone here mentioned using cheap oven cleaner so I tried it on a test piece of scrap cherry I had and liked it. I just sprayed it on and and after drying finished with 5 or 6 coats of tongue oil and plenty of rubbing.

[flembo]

This is what it looked like before tongue oil.

[Daryl]

Tung oil?

[2 shots]

Thanks  flembo .

[ed lundquist]

EasyOff oven cleaner for about a minute, neutralized with vinegar, shellac and then varnish oil. You can get real dark real fast with oven cleaner. Stock has only darkened slightly since being built a year or so ago.

[2 shots]

and again thank you all. some real nice stocks there, now i need to get my butt in gear and finish my fowler.

[Woodpecker]

Sapwood cherry is much lighter than heart cherry. I would advise that you put it in a sunny window to darken and wipe mineral spirits on the stock before deciding to stain it or not. The Kibler I received was entirely sapwood so never turned dark naturally. Still a nice piece but the "cherry" look most want is heartwood. If you have sapwood, you'll need to darken it with Alkanet root (traditional) or follow one of the modern lye based methods.

Also, if you decide to finish with a linseed oil based product, sand to 220 for the first coat, then more if you prefer for additional coats. Smear each coat on glass and leave it until the smear is dry. Then add more coats.

[Nbogan]

Reddogge here are a few more pictures in better light. Its indoor light but not as dark as the first picture.

[smart dog]

Hi,
Cherry darkens slowly and the final color probably depends as much on the finish as the wood.  If finished with a linseed oil based finish it will darken even more because the finish darkens but it takes years.  Many folks use some sort of lye solutions which oxidizes (ages) the wood speeding up the process but also makes it a darker reddish color.  I don't use lye because I cannot control the color very well.  Instead I use aniline dyes dissolved in water. Cherry is a fine grained wood and often the appearance is boring when finished.  Consequently, I jazz it up by first staining the stock with very dilute pure black dye.  Then I scrape that all off during the whiskering process but black color remains imbedded in the grain.  Then I stain the wood with the color I desire and the imbedded black pigment gives the wood an electric glow.

 












dave

[Bigmon]

Here is a pc of cherry I cut down on my homestead that Mr Kibler turned into a rifle for me a few years back.


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[alacran]

That is one pretty piece of Cherry Bigmon!

[reddogge]

Thanks Nbogan. It did make a difference in color. There are some very pretty cherry finishes on this thread.